Here We Go
by Cali Capricorn
Summary: AU "Any type of love- it will be shown, like every single tree- reach for the sky." High School has always had a way of blowing things out of proportions, good and bad. Rated for suggestive themes. Sukka, Maiko, Kataang, etc.
1. Chapter 1

I always over-think when it come to writing, so I figure it'd help my writing skills to just write whenever some idea comes to me. This is an example of that, I guess! The plot will really get going in a chapter or two, this one is just to help things get going!

Warnings: This is an AU, and let's say that Sokka is 17, so just adjust everyone else's ages to meet that! I ship canon, so this has, or will have Sukka, Maiko, Kataang, etc.

Lyrics from the summery are from The Adventure by Angels and Airwaves.

I totally own Avatar, that's why I'm writing fan fiction. /sarcasm

-

It's always bad when you sleep through your alarm and your sister ends up banging on your door five minutes before you're supposed to leave for school. What's worse is when your girlfriend also sleeps through it and your sister ignores decorum and simply barges in, only to freeze in place, momentarily forgetting what she came in to say. It was in the awkward moments of trying to cover themselves that said sister finally found her, albeit weak, voice.

"I, um.. Uh, s-sorry. I'll, um, just go, then." Face flushed, she turned quickly, her long braid whirled after her. "We're, uh, leaving in ten minutes."

Once the door was closed, Sokka released the death grip he had on holding his bed sheets to his chest and glanced to his right to see Suki doing the same.

"Oh man." He said with a sigh, laughing lightly. Suki simply covered her face with her hands.

"This is horrible! I can't believe this happened, now what am I going to do?" She sat herself at the edge of the bed and let her feet touch the ground. "I don't have any spare clothes, Katara knows what's going on, and I'm willing to bet anything that my personal hygiene isn't as good as it could be." She lifted her arm and sniffed, quickly scrunching her nose in disgust.

Sokka was already up and half way dressed when she turned to look at him. His hair was still down and messy and she couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever let it grow longer. She shook her head and glanced around the room looking for her clothes.

"Look, we'll deal with Katara later, right now we have to get ready for school." Sokka told her as he sifted through a pile of clothes looking for a shirt. When he found one, he lifted it to his nose to check if it was clean. When he found no odd odor he hurriedly pulled it over his head.

"What about my issue? As much as I know you'd enjoy it, I can't go to school nude." She shot at him in a sarcastic tone. She spotted her shirt on the opposite side of the room on top of Sokka's desk. Walking over, she picked it up. Her pants, she'd be able to wear again, but there was no way she could do the same with yesterday's shirt or underwear. She grimaced.

"You know I wouldn't like that. I don't want any of those jerks at school staring at you." He said as he himself stared unabashed. When she turned to see him ogling, she threw her dirty shirt at him and smirked when it hit. He took the shirt from his head and threw it back at her. "We still have about…" He looked at his clock, "Eight minutes. You can get in the shower and I can get some spare clothes from Katara for you, and no one besides the three of us will know what happened, okay?"

Suki nodded and smiled. "You always have a plan, don't you?" And she closed his bathroom door promptly.

-

School went by as fast as any other Monday, meaning very _very_ slow. So when lunch hour rolled around Sokka suggested they take lunch off campus to the nearest fast-food restaurant to relax. It took Zuko a while to drag Aang away from staring at Katara while she ate with her friends, but their efforts were successful.

The almost empty diner proved useful, as they got their food within minutes. Aang sat next to Zuko drumming his fingers on the table, having not ordered anything due to there being nothing _not_ made of meat. In the end, Suki gave him her french fries and put an end to his annoying twitch.

"Hey, Suki, would it be awkward to ask why you're wearing Katara's clothes?" Aang asked, innocently curious.

"Uh…" She was at loss for words. "I gotta get some napkins." With that, she left to the front counters.

"Hey, Aang? Would it be awkward for me to ask why you know my sister's clothing by memory?" Sokka asked back.

The younger boy turned red in the face and sunk in his seat beside Zuko, who laughed.

"So, I take it your date went well, then?" Zuko whispered across the table.

"Okay, here are the napkins!" Suki announced as she sat back down beside Sokka.

He looked between Zuko and his girlfriend, then turned back toward his friend with a huge grin on his face, and two thumbs up. Aang's eyes widened at Sokka's response and his mouth made an "O" shape when he got it. Suki merely hit Sokka's shoulder and crossed her arms over her chest when he yelped.

The group turned silent when two girls entered and walked past their table. Seconds later, one of the girls turned around and went back to the table, looking at Sokka.

"Hi!" She said cheerily and sat down beside him, her long braid hitting his face. Zuko and Aang began to laugh, but stopped when Suki sent a glare at the two of them. "What's up, cutie?" She was practically in his lap, now. "You still with that Suka girl?"

"My name is _Suki._" She said hotly.

"I'll take that as a _yes,_ then." Ty Lee said with disappointment in her voice. She got up quickly and rushed to her friend, turning back with a silent "Call Me" directed at the blue eyed boy.

When Sokka directed his interest back to eating his lunch, he was vaguely aware of the tension now in the air. Determined to get the group's attention off of him, he swallowed his food and said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Hey, Zuko, isn't that Mai that just came in?" His plan seemed to have worked, because now everyone's expressions were lighter. Well, besides Zuko's.

"Uh… yeah. Yeah." He said quickly, tilting his head down towards his half eaten meal.

"Why don't you go and say something? She seems like the type to need someone to brighten her day. Am I right?" He said jokingly. Suki and Zuko looked at each other from across the table and groaned. Aang laughed.

"Good one, Sokka!"

In the end, Zuko didn't talk to Mai. Instead, he just stared at her until she'd look at him, make eye contact, and he would turn away when he'd see the blush on her face, only to do the same things a minute later. She obviously didn't feel offended, Zuko told himself, if she had, he'd have been pinned to the wall by now with only her intense glare.

No, she knew he was looking at her, and in some small way, he knew she enjoyed it.

-

Not good enough to be posted on my official account, but good enough to be posted.

Reviews let me know that I don't totally fail at life.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry for the wait, my internet has been out.

Thank you, everyone, for your positive response to this story. I hope this chapter lives up to whatever crazy-insane expectations that you might have attained from the first chapter!

Also, if you couldn't tell already, this AU has no bending. I thought about it for a while, but I wasn't able to make it fit right. So, no Avatar(poor Aang.), and Zuko has no scar! If any of you readers have ever read the LJ RP Omashu Mills, I envision Zuko kind of like that… only a little less hot for Jet. xDD

-

The city bus's brakes screeched to a halt as it stood in front of its 3:10 stop. High school students flooded to the open doors, money in hand, attempting to get the best seats. It was the misfortune of the last teenager to pass the automatic doors that the only remaining seats were in the very back.

No matter who you are, if you're headed to the back in a crowded bus, you're bound to hit someone with your backpack or trip over someone else's, and _then_ hit someone with yours. For Zuko, it was the latter, and he all but fell face first in the narrow isle.

It wasn't until he made it to his seat that he realized there was someone else in the back row.

"Oh, h-hi, Mai." His words came out soft over the loud motor that was directly behind the two.

When she turned to see who was addressing her, her eyebrows perked up ever-so-slightly. "Zuko." She nodded, her voice never wavering.

The bus started moving, jerking all passengers momentarily, and effectively landed Zuko in his seat.. Both teenagers were silent, the only sound being the consistent groan of the motor.

"I thought you normally took the 24." Mai said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah. But I-uh, missed it." He responded. "I had to run to catch this one."

"Is that why you got on last?" She asked, her voice never once suggesting she was interested; the fact of her asking was proof enough.

"Yeah. Guess it wasn't too bad, though." He smiled at her awkwardly.

She stared at him, unmoved for a few seconds, then replied, "You're such a dork."

Zuko's smile faded and his cheeks turned red. He was about to turn away when he felt her move to the seat next to him. And he felt kind of cool.

They sat in a comfortable silence, at least until they were one stop short of Mai's leave. When he saw her grabbing her bags and getting ready to request her stop, Zuko cleared his throat, catching her attention.

"So, what are you, uh, doing tomorrow night?" He tried to act smooth, leaning against the window, but his elbow slipped and he ended up just looking slouched against it. And though she'd never admit it, Mai found it charming, in a dweeby kind of way.

"Nothing I can't move around for something less boring." She replied, pulling the cord on the window, making her stop known.

"Ofco_urse_." His voice cracked at the end. He collected himself and once more cleared his throat before it showed if she noticed, trying again in his cool-guy voice. "Of course."

Not letting on that she heard his slip up, Mai stood in time with the bus's stop. "I'll see you tomorrow at six, then."

Before he could come up with a good response she was already off the bus and walking down the street to her house. And if he looked hard enough, he thought he could saw her smiling.

-

"Thanks for letting me borrow your top, Katara. I promise I'll have it back for you as soon as possible." Suki told her friend as she opened the car door to get out.

"It's no issue. Just give it back whenever." She replied modestly.

Suki smiled gratefully. Before she stepped out of the car, she leaned over to the driver's seat and kissed Sokka's cheek.

"Thanks for the ride. Talk to you later?" He nodded as she got out and closed the door.

"Yeah." He said through the rolled down window. He knew she heard him because she turned back around and smiled at him before she got to her house.

He gave a light wave and, seconds later, Katara hopped into the front seat and buckled in before the siblings continued their ride home.

In the next few minutes nothing out of the norm occured. Katara took control of the radio and began changing stations, listening for five seconds to hear if a good song was on, then continued on and on. After a minute of this, Sokka turned the volume all the way down, earning an annoyed look from his sister.

"Katara, we have to talk." He said, determined.

"Okay." She huffed, slouching in her seat.

"About this morning." His unease was audible.

"Oh." And so was hers.

"Yeah." He sighed out, rubbing the back of his neck.

Neither said anything for a while, both too embarrassed. What was there to talk about? She hadn't seen anything. What she saw might have _suggested_ that something _had_ happened, but nothing more.

"Don't worry, I wont say anything." Yes, that was a good _safe_ start. "But you seriously need to be more careful."

"I'm not that stupid, of course I used a -" She cut him off before he could make the conversation more awkward that it already was.

"That's not what I'm talking about." Sokka swore her voice must have gone up and octave per word in that outburst. She sighed, trying again. "What would you have done if it was dad who walked in, not me? I'm sure he'd be just as disturbed as I was, and still am. But probably not as merciful."

"I know, I know. " Katara stared at her brother in wonder, it was evident he must have thought more about it than he let on.

"You really like her, huh?" She asked absently.

"_Nah,_ I'm just some sick jerk who's only after one thing." He said sarcastically. "Of course I _really_ like her."

"Do you love her?" The question had taken Sokka off guard, not because he didn't expect her - his nosy, overly caring, almost mother-like figure of a sister - to ask, just out of her own curiosity. What got him was that it didn't sound like she was prying. She was genuinely interested. Not as a friend, or as an overbearing mother figure, but as his little sister.

"I don't really think I can answer that question. I mean, I like her. A lot, obviously." He grinned at her grimace. "But I don't know if I'd call it love. At least not yet."

She seemed more or less satisfied with his answer and mulled it over for a few seconds.

"But how can you be with someone if you don't know if you love them?"

Oh, she could be so innocent and naïve at times.

"You can't expect everything to be perfect. There's not going to be some fairy-tale romance. You're not going to have your very own Prince Charming," He clasped his hands together and held them to his cheek for mocking purposes. "Come and sweep you off your feet."

Almost immediately he saw that he had offended her as she crossed her arms and scrunched her face in annoyance. He really knew how to get himself into these situations, didn't he?

"The point is, you have to live more- not too much, though, I don't want you getting into any kind of trouble." Big brother mode, again. Katara loosened up a bit from his antics.

"When I started dating Suki I didn't know we were going to get this far in our relationship." He saw her expression change again into an odd version of embarrassment meets nausea. "Not that I'm complaining, of course!" He threw in for good measure. He laughed until she hit his forearm, making him flinch and almost swerve into oncoming traffic.

-

Zuko is a dork, that's why Mai loves him! Haha.

Next chapter, Kataang is coming, and Toph makes an appearance. :D I'm still setting the stage for bigger events, so look forward to more character background info in the next few chapters before things really pick up!

Reviews must equal that of the previous chapter's for me to post the _next _chapter…. Until then, I'll be waiting. x3


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